High ambient light electronic screen communication method

ABSTRACT

The present invention embraces a method to obtain barcoded information off a computer screen under high ambient lighting conditions, including a direct sunlight environment. The method includes a user prompting a computer to present an active window on all or a portion of its screen. The computer generates a communication sequence, comprising information commonly included on a barcode, and displays the communication sequence on the computer screen. After activating the scanner into an alternative or screen mode, the user places the scanner on the active window of the computer screen and the scanner asynchronously receives the communication sequence. The scanner decodes the received communication sequence and obtains encoded information of the computer. The encoded information may include a unique identifier of the computer, such as a MAC address. With the MAC address, the scanner may wirelessly communicate with the computer to exchange other information.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods of communicating with acomputer, and in particularly methods of transferring information viascreen communication to a bar code scanner in a high ambient lightenvironment without the limitation of an in-focus optics system.

BACKGROUND

Generally speaking, the proliferation of 2D Imagers and their ease ofoperation have increased the demand for reading barcode symbols off acomputer screen. Reading on-screen barcodes allows customers to takeadvantage of their inherent ability to be dynamically-created andtherefore accommodate variable data, such as PC-specific Bluetooth MACaddresses. These techniques may support mission-critical applicationssuch as package delivery. However, this process may break down in highambient light environments. Often, the computer screen is located wheresignificant and uncontrollable amounts of ambient light are flooding thescreen, making the on-screen barcodes unusable.

Therefore, a need exists for a method to obtain the barcoded informationoff a computer screen under high ambient lighting conditions.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention embraces a method totransmit data between a computer screen and a decoding device utilizingan asynchronous communication method and an out-of focus condition forthe decoding device. The data may be information which may have beenencoded in a barcode and the decoding device may be a barcode scanner.The method may operate in a high ambient lighting environment, such asdirect sunlight.

In an exemplary embodiment, the method of communicating with a computermay comprise activating a scanner to operate in a screen mode (or analternative mode); and placing the scanner in contact with an activewindow displayed on a screen of the computer. The computer receives aprompt to cause the active window to be displayed on the screen, and thecomputer displays a communication sequence on the active window. Themethod continues with the scanner scanning the active window toasynchronously receive the communication sequence that comprises encodedinformation. The scanner operates in a defocused focus condition of thescanner and can operate successfully in a direct sunlight environment.The method further continues with the scanner converting the receivedencoded information to a unique identifier of the computer; andconnecting the scanner to the computer using the unique identifier viaan electronic communication method. The communication sequence comprisesat least three optical states.

The active window is displayed on a portion of the screen of thecomputer. The unique identifier of the computer may be, but is notlimited to, a MAC address. The electronic communication method mayutilize, but is not limited to, a Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) technology.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method of communicating with acomputer with a screen may comprise scanning, with a scanner, to detecta magnitude of an output of the screen, converting, by the scanner, theoutput of the screen into encoded information; and coupling the scannerto the computer using the encoded information. The computer causes allor part of the screen to display the output. The encoded informationvaries at least at a frame rate of the screen. The scanner operatesindependent of any focus condition. The output of the screen may be amulti-state sequence.

The scanner detects the magnitude of the output by averaging the pixelsof the screen. The scanner may average all of the pixels of the screen.The scanner may use its internal CMOS sensor for this detection. Thechanging screen states enable asynchronous communications. The encodedinformation may comprise one or more instructions intended for thescanner. For example, the encoded information may include a MAC address.The scanner operates in a direct sunlight environment. The communicationsequence may comprise a sequence of more than three optical states.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method of communicating with acomputer may comprise receiving a prompt, at the computer, to cause awindow to be displayed on a screen of the computer; displaying, by thecomputer, on the window a communication sequence comprising encodedinformation, wherein a scanner performs the steps of: (i) activating thescanner to operate in a screen mode) (or an alternative mode), (ii)placing the scanner in contact with the window, (iii) scanning thewindow with the scanner to asynchronously receive encoded information,and (iv) converting the received encoded information from the computerto a unique identifier of the computer. The method continues with thecomputer connecting the scanner to the computer using the uniqueidentifier via an electronic communication method. The scanner operatesindependent of any focus condition of the scanner and operatesindependent of a direct sunlight environment. The communication sequencecomprises a sequence of three optical states.

The aforementioned exemplary embodiments may include the followingelements: The communication sequence may comprise a sequence of threeoptical states including an “on” state, an “off” state, and anintermediate state. On the active window, the “on” state is displayed asa white color, the “off” state is displayed as a black color, and theintermediate state is displayed as a gray color. At the “on” state orthe “off” state, the communication sequence or multi-state sequencetransitions to and from the intermediate state. At the intermediatestate, the communication sequence or multi-state sequence transitions toand from either the “on” state or the “off” state. The “on” state, the“off” state or the intermediate state have at least a duration of ascanner frame rate. A transition from the intermediate state to the “on”or “off” state and back to a transition state comprises one bit ofinformation. A transmission period for one bit is equal to two times aframe duration plus two times a sum of a rise time plus a fall time. Thecommunication sequence or output is displayed by the computer onto thecomputer screen, or a portion of the computer screen.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method of communicating with acomputer comprises activating a scanner to operate in a barcode mode.The scanner then attempts to decode a barcode displayed on a computerscreen. If the scanner does not successfully decode the barcode: (i) theoperation of the scanner changes to a screen mode, and (ii) the scannerproceeds to process a plurality of frames in a communication sequencedisplayed on the computer screen. The scanner then determines if thecommunication sequence comprises multiple states in the frames of thecommunication sequence.

If the communication sequence comprises multiple states, the scannercontinues to decode the plurality of frames comprising bits of encodedinformation. After receiving and decoding a full bit stream, theoperation of the scanner returns to the barcode mode. The scannerconverts the encoded information to a unique ID of the computer, andproceeds to wirelessly connect to the computer using the unique ID.

In the barcode mode, if the scanner successfully decodes the barcode,the decoded barcode may be transmitted to a host computer. Then, thescanner repeats the operation in the barcode mode by attempting todecode another barcode. In the screen mode, if the communicationsequence does not comprise multiple states, the operation of the scannermay be returned to the barcode mode.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method of obtaining amachine-readable code information with a barcode scanner from a digitaldisplay comprising the steps of: converting the machine-readable codeinformation into a communication sequence comprised of sequentialimages, wherein each sequential image is defined by at least threecolors or patterns; configuring the barcode scanner to operate in amanner that analyzes a plurality of images sequentially; displaying bythe digital display the communication sequence; receiving with thebarcode scanner the communication sequence, wherein the barcode scannercaptures the sequential images; converting the captured sequentialimages back into the machine-readable code information; and connectingthe barcode scanner to a computer using a unique identifier via anelectronic communication method.

The communication sequence comprises a sequence of three optical statesincluding an “on” state, an “off” state, and an intermediate state. Eachoptical state represents a different color. On the active window, the“on” state is displayed as a white color, the “off” state is displayedas a black color, and the intermediate state is displayed as a graycolor. At the “on” state or the “off” state, the communication sequencetransitions to and from the intermediate state; and at the intermediatestate, the communication sequence transitions to and from either the“on” state or the “off” state. The “on” state, the “off” state or theintermediate state have at least a duration of a barcode scanner framerate.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a system for obtaining amachine-readable code information with a barcode scanner from a digitaldisplay, the system comprising: a computer capable of generating amulti-state sequence based on the machine-readable code information andpresenting the multi-state sequence on the digital display; the barcodescanner capable of scanning the digital display and receiving themulti-state sequence using out-of-focus asynchronous data transmission,wherein, the barcode scanner converts the multi-state sequence back intothe machine-readable code information; and the digital display fordisplaying the multi-state sequence.

The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplaryobjectives and/or advantages of the invention, and the manner in whichthe same are accomplished, are further explained within the followingdetailed description and its accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A illustrates a computer screen flooded with ambient light.

FIG. 1B illustrates a system for obtaining barcoded information off acomputer screen under high ambient lighting conditions.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication sequencethat is displayed on the computer screen and subsequently scanned by ascanner in a high ambient light environment such as illustrated in FIG.1A and FIG. 1B.

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the communicationsequence that is produced by the scanner, after the communicationsequence has been displayed on the computer screen.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another exemplary embodiment of the communicationsequence that is displayed on the computer screen including thewhite-gray-black pattern displayed on the computer screen.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of receiving at a scannerthe communication sequence that includes encoded information.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of receiving at ascanner the communication sequence that includes encoded information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention embraces a method to obtain barcoded informationoff a computer screen under high ambient lighting conditions, includinga direct sunlight environment. The method includes a user prompting acomputer to present an active window on all or a portion of its screen.The computer generates a communication sequence, comprising informationnormally included in a barcode, and displays the communication sequenceon the computer screen. After activating the scanner into a screen mode(or an alternative mode), the user places the scanner on the activewindow of the computer screen and the scanner asynchronously receivesthe communication sequence. The scanner decodes the receivedcommunication sequence and obtains encoded information from thecomputer. The encoded information may include a unique identifier of thecomputer, such as a MAC address. With the MAC address, the scanner maywirelessly communicate with the computer to exchange other information.The other information may include tracking the location of productinventory in a facility.

The present invention may be useful in an industrial environment where auser is picking up a product from inventory and delivering it to adelivery location in the facility. To track the user's activity, theuser first connects to a specific computer. The connection includesreading three bar codes. The first barcode resets the scanner; thesecond barcode reconfigures the scanner or operation; and the thirdbarcode includes a unique identifier of the computer. The uniqueidentifier may be a MAC address.

After connecting with the specific computer, the user may walk in thefacility and pick up a product and deliver it to a delivery location inthe facility. At each stop, the user reads the barcode of the product,which is immediately transmitted to the specific computer. Accordingly,the location of the product is tracked by the specific computer. Thespecific computer is often in a high ambient light environment. A workaround for this situation may include posting the barcodes on a piece ofpaper and attaching the paper to the specific computer. The scanner maybe able to read the barcode on the paper in a high ambient lightenvironment, but the paper may become lost or damaged. The presentinvention provides a method to avoid such a work around.

As described, herein, a communication sequence is equivalent to acommunication signal. An optical state is equivalent to a color. Ascanner is equivalent to a barcode scanner. A communication sequence maybe a multi-state sequence.

FIG. 1A illustrates an embodiment 100 of a computer screen flooded withambient light 102. The high ambient light environment may inhibit abarcode scanner from reading a barcode on the computer screen. Thepresent invention may solve this problem by creating a small “window” onthe computer screen that changes light intensity uniformly, allowing thescanner to be in contact with the screen and to operate in any focuscondition including out-of-focus.

FIG. 1B illustrates a system 120 for obtaining barcoded information offa computer screen under high ambient lighting conditions, as depicted inFIG. 1A. System 120 comprises barcode scanner 122 that includes ascanner optical input/output (I/O) port 123, display 124 that includes avisual portion of the display 125, computer 126, and high ambient light127. As illustrated, barcode scanner 122 attempts to reads a barcode offdisplay 124 via the scanner optical I/O port 123 and visual portion ofthe display 125. Inasmuch as a successful reading of a barcode may notbe possible, the user of barcode scanner 122 changes from a barcodereading mode to a screen scanning mode (or screen mode) and requests thecomputer 126 to display a communication sequence representing thebarcode information. As illustrated, barcode scanner 122 can wirelesslycommunication with computer 126. Although not shown, barcode scanner 122can communication with computer 126 on a non-wireless basis. A “screenmode” is sometimes referred to as an “alternative mode.”

The present invention may also solve the problem of how to communicateinformation without using a method to synchronize to the computerscreen. Other methods have relied on using the time-dependent rasteringscans for each frame of a CRT display to transmit a byte and a focusedphotodiode to receive the information in a synchronized fashion. ThisCRT method may not be useful with current screen technology and may bevery sensitive to high ambient light conditions. Also, the CRT methodmay use the entire frame to transmit a bit and the receiving device mayneed to be focused. In the present invention, the method ofcommunicating information may not need to be synchronized and may notneed to rely on time dependent frame generation. Moreover, the receivingdevice may be a standard imaging barcode scanner.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a communication sequence200 that is displayed, i.e., projected, on the computer screen andsubsequently scanned by a scanner in a high ambient light environmentsuch as illustrated in FIG. 1. The display or projection ofcommunication sequence 200 may be on all or a designated area of thecomputer screen such as in the lower right corner of the computerscreen.

The scanner, such as a Honeywell SF61, may run at 60 frames per second,meaning the scanner may capture a new image approximately every 17 ms(i.e., the frame duration, or Ts is 17 ms). This situation may limit thefundamental information transfer since a “bit” has to be captured duringthis time period. A “bit” may be defined when the screen is either allon or all off. An LCD screen, Honeywell CV61, may have a “rise” time of36 ms and a “fall” time of 20 ms between the two optical states thatcomprise a bit. The problem becomes how to make sure that the scannersees the “on” state without missing it, while at the same time beingsure that the scanner does not capture the bit twice. One solution is toutilize an intermediate state where half the screen illumination is onand half off creating a gray level that may serve as a “catch up” zoneboth to be sure that at least one frame is caught and to know when twoframes are caught so as to avoid a double count.

The definition of a bit is therefore a process where the screentransitions from gray to, all-white (i.e., “on”) and stays “on” forapproximately 17 ms, then transitions back to gray for approximately 17ms. This method may allow for two “on states” of the same value to beadjacent, since they are separated by a gray period. This method mayallow for two “on states” to be adjacent, but not separated by a grayvalue, thereby allowing the scanner to ignore one of the “on states”.This method may also allow for the accounting of any intermediate pointof the rise and fall of the screen.

FIG. 2 shows the method of the present invention diagrammatically, andspecifically the encodation of two bits, 01, on the CV61 display screenas a function of time. The encodation starts on the left with a grayframe that may be long enough to be sure the scanner does not miss aframe. The frame duration may be 17 ms because in the worst case, thescanner captures a frame every 17 ms. Hence, the method may not miss thegray frame. The 10 ms is half the “fall” time (Tf) to the first “offstate” that needs to stay at zero level (off=0) again for 17 ms. The 18ms is half the screen's inherent “rise” time (Tr) to return to gray thatallows the scanner to become ready to measure the next “on or off”state, which in this example may be 256 (on=1). An “on” state (white)means that all pixels (256) are turned on. An “off” state (black) meansthat no pixels (zero) are turned on. A gray level means that half thepixels (128) are turned on or all the pixels are set at an intermediatecolor, such as light blue.

FIG. 2 also shows the minimum times for display output on the CV61display screen to generate two bits dependably. The “on” or white statemust be of at least the duration of the scanner frame rate to be sure tocapture it. There may be an intermediate state, gray, to distinguishbetween two adjacent “on” or “off” states. The ½ rise time (Tr) and ½fall time (Tf) are inherent in the display and are 18 and 10 msrespectively in this exemplary embodiment.

The intermediate state (where half the screen illumination is on andhalf off) creates a gray level that serves as a neutral or “rest”condition, and provides a mechanism for bit synchronization.

The total time for transmission of a bit is 2(Ts)+2(Tr+Tf). For 2bits=4(17 ms)+2 (10 ms+18 ms)=124 ms. For 40 bits=124×20=2.5 s. For 48bits=124×24=3.0 s (“s”=second, “ms”=milli-second). Ts is the frameduration.

When the scanner receives the MAC address of the computer, the scannermay wirelessly communicate with the computer. As it turns out, there maybe some repeating data in the MAC address for the CV61 that may be thesame 6-digit prefix and may be 001040, which may basically identify thechipset vendor. For example, valid CV61 MAC addresses may be:00104057a64c, 001040b6afe3, and 00104042d4a0. Consequently, six hexcharacters must be represented, which is three bytes or 24 bits, inorder to be useful to the application. Check bits could be added as wellas a gray prefix and still be within the practical range of about twoseconds of contact time with the display screen.

In summary, FIG. 2 illustrates a communication sequence comprising asequence of three optical states. The communication sequence includes 2bits, a “01” bit pattern. The time to transmit 2bits=(2GF+BF+WF)+2(Tr)+2(Tf), where GF=gray frame; BF=black frame;WF=white frame; Tr=½ rise time; Tf=½ fall time. For one embodiment:GF=BF=WF=17 ms; Tf=10 ms; Tr=18 ms. A rise time equals the rise from theblack level to the white level; similarly for the fall time. Tr may be adifferent value than Tf. The number of pixels displayed is the bitstate. In another exemplary embodiment, the communication sequence maycomprise a sequence of more than three optical states.

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the communicationsequence that is produced by the scanner, after the communicationsequence has been displayed on the computer screen. The communicationsequence 300 of the present invention may be simulated by turning thescreen on, off, or to gray. The scanner can detect the value of theconstant state with the following algorithm:

int Mat|rixPluginDecode(unsigned char *pBuffer, int width, int height) (int iRow, iCol; unsigned long ulSum, ulAvrg; int MaxRow = 640; //# ofvertical pixels int MaxCol = 844; //# of horizontal pixels ulAvrg = 0;for (iRow = 0; iRow < MaxRow; iRow++) (   ulSum = 0;   for (iCol = 0;iCol < MaxCol; iCol++) (     ulSum += pBuffer[iCol + iRow * MaxRow];    }   ulSum /= MaxCol;   ulAvrg += ulSum;   } ulAvrg /= MaxRow;printf(“%u\r\n”, ulAvrg); //outputs pixel average value to host computer}

In this code, snippet “ulAvrg” is the variable of interest; it mayrepresent the pixel average values returned by an Xenon scanner of itsentire sensor area, for a single acquisition. The resulting output ofthe scanner (i.e. all successive acquisitions) at the end of theexperiment is then fed into a spreadsheet and displayed graphically, asshown FIG. 3. The pixel average values are shown on the Y-axis, andtaken together in sequence, illustrate a “0110” bit pattern. The pixelaverage values are represented by a bit state measured on a scale from 0to 255, where 0 represents “perfect black” and 255 represents “perfectwhite”. This measurement is essentially the average value for all pixelsof the sensor, where each individual pixel is encoded as an 8-bit value.In the aforementioned experiment, a “perfect white” was not achieved.Rather, a white frame was measured at approximately 100 bits state.

FIG. 4 illustrates yet another exemplary embodiment 400 of communicationsequence 402 that is displayed on the computer screen including thewhite-gray-black pattern displayed on the computer screen. The presentinvention may be demonstrated utilizing the following devices: astandard Android tablet (e.g., Galaxy Tab 2 by Samsung) and a standardXenon 1900 barcode scanner by Honeywell, with a black & white CMOSsensor. An Android application named AndroidScreenFlicker was createdfor the purpose of this experiment. The result of the experiment isillustrated in exemplary embodiment 400 of FIG. 4. The time-distributedpattern of communication sequence 402 is displayed, i.e. projected, onthe LCD screen and alternates on the LCD screen of the tablet betweenthe 3 defined color states i.e., the white-gray-black pattern 404. Ifeach frame is approximately 17 ms, the user may not be able to observethe change in the white-gray-black pattern 404, and the LCD screen mayappear gray during the projection of the communication sequence 402. Theprojection results in communication sequence 402 comprising the bits0110 which may be the same as the bit pattern of FIG. 3. In thisexperiment, each time slot has a fixed 1-second duration, although othertime periods may be selected for the experiment. The aforementionedAndroid application may be implemented on another OS, i.e., theapplication is OS agnostic.

In the experiment, special attention was taken to ensure that graylevels are effectively converted into a median value, and in thisparticular experiment the best performing color was Light Steel Blue. Anexample color may be html color code #B0C4DE, as defined atW3schools.com.

This experiment also highlights the importance of having an intermediatestate (where all the pixels are Light Steel Blue or other intermediatecolor or half the screen illumination is on and half off creating a graylevel to the scanner) since the scanner may capture an image at anygiven time including during the “rise” and the “fall” time of the LCDscreen, as illustrated by indicator 302 in FIG. 3. The intermediatestate creates a gray level that serves as a neutral or “rest” condition,and provides a mechanism for bit synchronization.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram 500 illustrating a method of receiving at ascanner a communication sequence that includes encoded information. Themethod may comprises the steps of:

User prompts a computer to display an active window on the computerscreen. (step 502) The prompting may include the user touching the“touch screen” of the computer. An active window on the computer screenchanges light intensity uniformly to allow the scanner to be in contactwith the screen and to operate in any focus condition, including out-offocus

User activates the scanner in a screen mode. (step 504)

User physically places the opening of the scanner in contact with theactive window of the computer screen (step 506

Scanner begins to receive bits of encoded information. (step 508)Reception of bits may begin essentially immediately after the scanner inplaced in contact with the active window. The bits may be received viaasynchronous communication.

After receiving a full bit stream, the scanner converts the encodedinformation to a unique identifier of the computer. The uniqueidentifier may be a MAC address of the computer (step 510). After asuccessful reception and conversion of the bit stream, the scannerprovides a positive notification to the user, such as turning on alight, generating a sound or causing a vibration.

Scanner connects with computer utilizing ad hoc communication and theMAC address. (step 512)

Scanners may have several embodiments of operation. In one embodiment,the scanner continuously scans for barcodes after the scanner is turnedon. In another embodiment, the scanner only scans when a scan button(trigger) is depressed. Generally, for the scan button case, after abarcode is read, the scanner turns off. However, there may be modeswhere the scanning continues as long as the scan button is activated.

In another embodiment, if the barcode scan is not successful, thescanner may automatically switch to a screen mode where the scannerscans a communication sequence that is displayed on the screen.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram 600 illustrating another method of receiving ata scanner the communication sequence that includes encoded information.The method may comprises the steps of:

Activate a scanner to operate in barcode mode. (step 601)

In the barcode mode, the scanner attempts to decode a barcode displayedon computer screen. (step 602) For one embodiment of decoding, thescanner scans for contrast areas and then determines edges between highand low contrast.

Does the scanner successfully decode the barcode? (step 604) If thescanner does not successfully decode the barcode: (i) change theoperation of the scanner to a screen mode and process a plurality offrames in a communication sequence displayed on the computer screen.(step 608) In one embodiment, several frames (e.g., six) are processedby averaging pixels.

The scanner determines if the communication sequence comprises multiplestates in the frames of the communication sequence. (step 610) In oneembodiment, there may be three states corresponding to black, gray, andwhite. In another embodiment there may be more than three states.

If the communication sequence comprises multiple states, the scannercontinues to decode the plurality of frames comprising bits of encodedinformation. (step 612) After receiving and decoding a full bit stream,the scanner converts the encoded information to a unique ID of thecomputer, and then wirelessly connects to the computer using the uniqueID. (step 614) The wireless connection may utilize Bluetooth technology.Subsequently, the operation of the scanner returns to the barcode mode.A full bit stream comprises all the bits contained between prolongedgray states that last for multiple frames. (step 616) In the barcodemode, if the scanner successfully decodes the barcode, the scannertransmits the decoded barcode to a host computer, and then the scannerrepeats the operation in the barcode mode by attempting to decodeanother barcode. (steps 602, 604, 606)

In the screen mode, if the communication sequence does not comprisemultiple states, the operation of the scanner returns to barcode mode.(steps 610, 616)

In summary, the computer may transmit its communication sequence with aunique identifier continuously in a loop in a designated area such as inthe lower right corner of the computer screen. The user places thescanner in contact with the screen and makes an average reading of allor a portion of its sensor pixels during each frame of its scan time.The scanner records the bits and the long gray segment that indicatesthe start of the data until a full data transmission is obtained. Thescanner may then unambiguously connect with the computer terminal, suchas a CV61, using the acquired data. The present invention in a broadsense is a generic method of communication from a computer screenwithout the limitation of an in-focus optics system and in the presenceof high environmental challenges such as direct sunlight or rain. Theinvention was inspired by observing the difficulties of a user in apackage carrier environment when trying to read a bar code off thescreen in the presence of direct sunlight. The present invention,therefore, is not limited to a specific application such ascommunicating a computer MAC address, but can be a method ofcommunicating data for any purpose, including data collection.

The present invention allows the scanners already deployed to be usedwith only software modifications. With the present invention, a user mayconnect a common scanning device to a host computer in the presence ofdirect sunlight with a high confidence level of success.

To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporatesentirely by reference the following commonly assigned patents, patentapplication publications, and patent applications:

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In the specification and/or figures, typical embodiments of theinvention have been disclosed. The present invention is not limited tosuch exemplary embodiments. The use of the term “and/or” includes anyand all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Thefigures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawnto scale. Unless otherwise noted, specific terms have been used in ageneric and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A method of obtaining machine-readable code information with abarcode scanner from a digital display comprising the steps of:converting the machine-readable code information into a communicationsequence comprising sequential images, wherein each sequential image isdefined by at least three colors; configuring the barcode scanner tooperate in a manner that analyzes a plurality of images sequentially;displaying by the digital display the communication sequence; receivingwith the barcode scanner the communication sequence, wherein the barcodescanner captures the sequential images; converting the capturedsequential images back into the machine-readable code information; andconnecting the barcode scanner to a computer using a unique identifiervia an electronic communication method.
 2. The method according to claim1, wherein, the communication sequence comprises a sequence of threeoptical states including an “on” state, an “off” state, and anintermediate state, wherein, each optical state represents a differentcolor; on an active window of the digital display, the “on” state isdisplayed as a white color, the “off” state is displayed as a blackcolor, and the intermediate state is displayed as a gray color; at the“on” state or the “off” state, the communication sequence transitions toand from the intermediate state; and at the intermediate state, thecommunication sequence transitions to and from either the “on” state orthe “off” state.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, the “on”state, the “off” state or the intermediate state have at least aduration of a barcode scanner frame rate.
 4. The method according toclaim 2, wherein, a transition from the intermediate state to the “on”or “off” state and back to a transition state comprises one bit ofinformation; and a transmission period for one bit is equal to two timesa frame duration plus two times a sum of a rise time plus a fall time.5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the communication sequenceis displayed on a portion of a screen of the computer.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein, the unique identifier of the computer isa MAC address.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, theelectronic communication method utilizes a Bluetooth Low Energy (LE)technology.
 8. A system for obtaining machine-readable code informationwith a barcode scanner from a digital display, the system comprising: acomputer capable of generating a multi-state sequence from themachine-readable code information and presenting the multi-statesequence on the digital display; the barcode scanner capable of scanningthe digital display and receiving the multi-state sequence usingout-of-focus asynchronous data transmission, wherein, the barcodescanner converts the multi-state sequence back into the machine-readablecode information; and the digital display for displaying the multi-statesequence.
 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein, the multi-statesequence comprises a sequence of three optical states including an “on”state, an “off” state, and an intermediate state.
 10. The systemaccording to claim 9, wherein, on a screen of the computer, the “on”state is displayed as a white color, the “off” state is displayed as ablack color, and the intermediate state is displayed as a gray color.11. The system according to claim 9, wherein, at the “on” state or the“off” state, the multi-state sequence transitions to and from theintermediate state.
 12. The system according to claim 9, wherein, at theintermediate state, the multi-state sequence transitions to and fromeither the “on” state or the “off” state.
 13. The system according toclaim 9, wherein, a transition from the intermediate state to the “on”or “off” state and back to a transition state comprises one bit ofinformation.
 14. The system according to claim 9, wherein, atransmission period for one bit is equal to two times a frame durationplus two times a sum of a rise time plus a fall time.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 8, wherein, the barcode scanner detects a magnitudeof the multi-state sequence by averaging pixels of the digital displayand asynchronously communicates with the computer.
 16. The systemaccording to claim 8, further comprising coupling the barcode scanner tothe computer using the machine-readable code information.
 17. The systemaccording to claim 8, wherein, the barcode scanner operates in a directsunlight environment.
 18. The system according to claim 8, wherein, themulti-state sequence comprises a sequence of more than three opticalstates.
 19. A method of communicating with a computer, comprising:activating a scanner to operate in a barcode mode; attempting, by thescanner, to decode a barcode displayed on a computer screen; if thescanner does not successfully decode the barcode: changing an operationof the scanner to a screen mode, and processing a plurality of frames ofa communication sequence displayed on the computer screen; determining,by the scanner, if the communication sequence comprises multiple statesin the plurality of frames of the communication sequence; if thecommunication sequence comprises multiple states, continuing, by thescanner, to decode the plurality of frames comprising bits of encodedinformation; and after receiving and decoding the communicationsequence, returning the operation of the scanner to the barcode mode.20. The method according to claim 19, further comprising: converting, bythe scanner, the bits of encoded information to a unique ID of thecomputer, and wirelessly connecting to the computer using the unique ID.